Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for my own ideas

A chance encounter

BEN felt bored as he wandered through cyber space. He didn't have anything to do save for getting rid of video and audio evidence of any careless Creep. He came across one of the ways he usually used to travel between countries and decided to take a trip to Britain. Maybe a trip to the land of castles and Arthurian legends will do something to alleviate his boredom. A few hours passed as he floated among the computers. While he had found some amusing idiots that thought they could make other peoples days hell, he hadn't come across anything really interesting. It was as he was passing through the Surrey school system computers that he came across something interesting. For some reason, the school was only now putting their records onto cyberspace which left them completely unprotected. Humming as he floated towards them, he decided to take a look if only to see if any of the brats had the potential to become a Creep or one of their targets. Looking through the ones already added, BEN rolled his eyes at how boring these kids were. The only one that seemed interesting was Dudley Dursley, but that was only because he was more than likely going to end up one of their targets. BEN was about to leave when they uploaded another record and he found himself unable to breath at the site of the picture. He felt a tug on the connection Slenderman set up. The tug was incessant prompting BEN to make a decision. If he was wrong, it wouldn't mean anything other than them having a new target. He made a copy of both Dursley's file and the newest one before heading back to the mansion.

Slenderman finished explaining that they'd have to move the mansion again and asked for suggestions on where. BEN spoke up, "I suggest England even if it's for only a little while."

"England?" Jeff scowled at BEN, "Why the fuck would we go somewhere it rains constantly?"

"Because it's one of the only places we haven't been recently," BEN snapped feeling irritated with the carved smile killer, "Or do I have to remind you that you're the one that keeps getting into trouble that causes us to have to move?"

Before a fight could break out, Slenderman spoke, "I believe that England would be a perfect choice for the moment. We will leave in two weeks. BEN, come to my office immediately."

BEN headed to the faceless entity's office while mentally swearing. He hoped to the Creator that he hadn't pissed off the entity since the results of his last punishment were still healing. He opened the door and walked inside. The faceless entity eyed him silently and BEN asked, "So what do you want, Slender?"

"What interesting things did you find in England?" Slenderman asked and BEN immediately relaxed.

BEN pulled the copy of the files he'd made out of his tunic as he walked over to the desk and set them down. Slenderman picked up Dudley Dursley's file and BEN explained, "That one is likely going to be a new victim, but it's the girl that's been bothering me."

Slenderman picked up the girl's file and opened it, "I am unsure as to why you're interested in her."

"Doesn't she look a lot like Jason?" BEN asked earning a slight hum from the entity, "I looked through her file a bit more carefully after you called me back and found a few interesting things. Based on the file, it seems like she's interesting in fixing toys kind of like Jason," BEN shifted slightly as the faceless entity flicked through the file, "I'm planning on looking into her a bit more further when I have a chance since I noticed some oddities in her file,"

"I see," Slenderman put down the file, "The date of her birth is around the time period that Jason was last in England. As she is an orphan, I would like you to look into when she became one,"

BEN nodded not minding the request, but he had to ask, "Does that mean that Jason might have a kid running around?"

"If everything lines up with what I'm thinking, yes," BEN felt a shiver go down his spine and knew that the faceless entity was pinning him with a glare, "Under no circumstances are you to tell anyone of her. Is that clear?"

BEN gulped and nodded, "Crystal."

"Prepare for the move, we will continue speaking on this topic once we get more information," Slenderman dismissed him and BEN couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

He raced up to his room and dived into cyber space without stopping to talk with anyone. Once he had reached the area he usually used as a home base, BEN flopped onto the virtual ground and closed his eyes. BEN's mind drifted back to seven years ago around October and jolted slightly when he realized that was around the time Jason had started to targets adults more often than he usually did. In fact, the toy-maker had become even more brutal in his methods especially if any of the dolls he made were damaged. He wondered over what could have happened especially if the kid was actually Jason's daughter. He wondered aloud, "Who are you exactly Calla Potter?"

Calla Dorea Potter was an odd little girl with bright forest green eyes and dark crimson curls that fell to the middle of her back. She looked much like a doll with her porcelain pale skin and short stature. She wore rather ratty clothes and was rather quiet. She was always fixing things whether they were toys, clothing, or even the odd electronic. Many times, you could find her tinkering with some broken doll in a corner or reading a book on fixing things. At the current moment, she was fixing one of the marionette that the local theater often used during it's puppet shows. During a recent play, one of the actors had broken one of the arms in multiple places due to attempting to move it out of the way without checking to see if it was caught on something. Calla was angry with the careless woman for harming the marionette and planned on making her life difficult though she wasn't sure what she would do.

With careful and quick hands, Calla put the marionette's arm back together making sure to keep the glue she was using from coating too thickly or thinly. Calla closed her eyes as she finished and willed the arm to be fixed. Warmth flowed through her body to her hands where it sank into the wood and Calla visualized each individual grain. She visualized the broken parts knitting together until the marionette's arm was fixed. When she opened her eyes, it looked like the arm hadn't been broken at all. Smiling wildly, Calla picked up the marionette and hugged it, "You're all fixed up. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to you, Pips."

The marionette that often played the minstrel in the puppet shows seemed like it was smiling at her as Calla let it go. Calla heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Mrs. Easton. Mrs. Easton was the owner of the theater and often allowed Calla to watch the various shows after fixing things. Mrs. Easton was an old woman of around fifty with salt and pepper hair that was usually held in a bun. She had kind chocolate brown eyes and a sweet voice made for singing. Mrs. Easton smiled down at the seven year old, "Calla, I see you've fixed up Pips."

"Mhmm," Calla smiled as she put Pips own on the work table she usually used and got off of the chair she'd been sitting in, "It took a little while longer than usual. I can't believe Isabelle was so careless,"

"It can't be helped," Mrs. Easton shook her head before asking, "Do you want to come see them rehearse beauty and the beast?"

"Of course!" Calla loved Beauty and the Beast, "Just give me a few moments to put Pips back in his place,"

"I'll be waiting in the first row," Mrs. Easton told her before leaving the child.

Calla picked up Pips and carried him to his cubby hole. She spoke as she gently put him down, "I wish Isabelle would understand being careless with you guys is a bad idea. I hate that she isn't even going to get into trouble for doing it. If only you and the others were alive, you could show her just how bad of an idea it was," Shaking her head, Calla kissed the marionette on the cheek, "See you later, Pips. I hope I don't have to fix any of you when I come around tomorrow."

The marionette sat watching his favorite human walk out of the room and spoke as the other marionette's rose up. He spoke as his painted eyes flashed bright greenish gold, "My friends, it would seem our favorite human has given us a new task unknowing as it was."

"And what shall we do, Pips?" A marionette dressed much like a princess complete with tiara inquired in a soft voice, "We cannot do something too bad. It would probably scare the poor child,"

"Terrifying the woman should be enough," A marionette dressed like a priest muttered from his place on the shelf above the princess, "Make her fear us and perhaps leave this place before she causes anymore damage,"

"That sounds like the best plan," A marionette dressed like a prince inclined his head, "Let us move out and begin,"

After the rather fantastic rehearsal, Calla picked up her bag and the twenty dollars Mrs. Easton paid her for ensuring the marionette's were in good condition. She buried 10 of it in the bottom of her bag to keep her relatives from finding it. Petunia always took the money she got paid since Mrs. Easton started paying her for the odd jobs she did around the theater, so Calla had started splitting it in half once Mrs. Easton increased the amount. Calla walked slowly back the Dursley house wanting to take as long as possible. She reached up and grabbed the necklace that sat around her neck with a frown. Sometimes, she wondered what it would be like if her parents hadn't died in that car accident. Calla shook herself from that thought as she turned to walk down an alleyway. Halfway through it, Calla heard a series of panicked squeaks and the sound of yowls. Curious about what was going on and not wanting to hurry back to her relatives, Calla followed the sounds and found a rather surprising scene.

A group of cats that looked a lot like the ones Mrs. Figg. Actually, Calla recognized most of them as her crazy baby sitter's cats. The odd tuft of fur on their tails signaled that. Calla spotted what looked like a small black mouse with red eyes cowering from them against the wall. Calla's mind flashed back to the times Dudley and his gang had cornered her along with the times Vernon had attempted to beat her within an inch of her life. Feeling angry, Calla forced the cats to scatter by swinging her bag at them. They raced off with hisses and growls while attempting to swipe at her. Calla bent down as she realized the mouse was a wind-up one only it seemed like it was actually alive. Calla held out her hand, "Come here, Little one. I can take you somewhere those mean old cats won't get to you."

Calla felt a little stupid for talking to a wind-up mouse when it didn't move. Eventually it moved forward and climbed onto Calla's hand, Calla stood up and walked towards the park. The cats didn't like it for whatever reason, so the wind-up mouse wouldn't get hurt. Calla passed by a few older kids that often performed at the theater, "Hey, Calla!"

Calla greeted them with a wave and a smile before heading off earning shrug from the kids. Calla didn't normally talk much less greet anyone unless she had to, so they weren't bothered. Reaching the park after a few minutes of walking, Calla carefully set the mouse down, "Here, you'll probably be safer here since those cats don't like this place. Just try to avoid alleyways and you'll be fine."

Calla gently ran her fingers against the mouse's head and earn a soft squeak from it. She smiled softly before turning to walk towards the Dursley house. She paused when she heard squeaking and looked back to find the mouse following her. Frowning, Calla bent down to shoo it off only to hear some other older kids coming towards her. A glance towards them told Calla that they were the ones that often had fun destroying toys and stuff that were laying around. Looking down at the wind-up mouse, Calla knew they would probably try to blow it up with fire crackers or something. Calla heard one of them say, "Hey, Kid!"

Calla held out a hand to the mouse, "If you want to come with me, you should get onto my hand."

The mouse scurried onto her hand and Calla placed into her pocket as she stood up. She turned to the older kids as they surrounded her. One of them, a beefy looking boy, said, "I was talking to you, Kid."

"Oh, I was busy looking at the butterflies," Calla pointed to where a few of the insects were flying around, "Did you need something?"

"Are you the kid that fixes stuff?" The boy asked earning a nod, "Can you fix this?"

The boy held out a rather beaten looking stuffed bear and Calla took it from the boy. She looked it over carefully and noted the jagged rip along it's stomach, "How'd this happen?"

"It's my little sister's favorite," The boy flushed slightly, "I tripped over it and some other stuff happened,"

"Ah," Calla fingered the rip and nodded, "I can fix it. Do you want me to fix the other things?"

The boy thought about it before nodding, "Sure. What do you want in return?"

"Pay to replace the thread that I need to fix it and a few snacks," Calla replied making the boy sigh in relief, "When do you need it back?"

"In an hour, My sister has to go stay in the hospital for a while," The boy replied with a sigh.

Calla made a few calculations before nodding, "I can get it done."

The boy took out a piece of paper as Calla took off her bag and pulled out her sowing kit along with her thread organizer. Calla matched the brown thread of the bear's fur and informed the boy about what thread he'd need to buy. She pulled out some ribbons to make a bow and let the boy pick a color before she started to fix the bear while the boy took off to go get what she'd asked for. Calla started relaxing as she fixed the bear up under the watchful eyes of the boy's friends at one of the picnic tables. The boy returned as she did the bow up and handed over a plastic bag. Checking it, Calla handed the bear back to the boy and he left with a thankful smile.

Liquorice stayed in the human child's pocket listening to her fix that toy bear and the murmur of the teenagers around her. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have been found by the child rather than by some hooligan. The fact that she'd saved him from those cats before he'd been forced to transform into his killer form had been majorly surprising. Many would have left him to them especially if they were magical like the child since they would have recognized the kneazles and realized something was wrong with him if they were willing to attack him despite the fact he was a toy. Something about this child was diffrent, Liquorice thought that the child was familiar though the toy mouse wasn't too sure.

Liquorice wondered why that was especially since he hadn't been in England since his maker had left almost seven years ago after that damn Halloween night. Mentally shaking his thoughts clear when the child move, Liquorice decided to stay with the child either until he figure out why she was familiar or his maker found him. Whichever came first, Liquorice mentally nodded to himself. It couldn't hurt especially since she would probably keep him from being damaged which would only make his maker depressed for not only losing him, but also not being their to protect him. Since his maker hasn't been truly happy since that night, Liquorice didn't want to make his maker's depression even worse.

Liquorice was jolted from those thoughts when he heard, "Girl! Where the hell have you been?!"

Liquorice wondered when parents had started calling their children things that that or curse in front of them as the child seemed to be around five years old if maybe a year older. The child spoke and Liquorice jolted slightly hearing the name that the child spoke, "I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia. One of the marionette's needed extra work."

"Where's the money?" The woman's shrill voice was starting to hurt his ears and her words pissed him off.

The child reached into the pocket holding him and pulled out the ten dollars that had been sitting in there when she'd place him inside of it, "Here you go."

"Is this all she's paying you?" The woman demanded before scoffing, "Honestly, she should have increased it to fifteen dollars a week by now,"

"The theater isn't doing as well as last month, Aunt Petunia," The child replied.

"Go to the sowing room, I need you to finish my dinner party dress before tomorrow night's dinner party," The woman ordered.

The child started walking and he heard foot steps heading upstairs. Soon enough, a door shut and he felt the girl's hand surround him. When he could see again, he found himself in what looked like his maker's sowing room only smaller. The child set him down on a desk and told him, "If you're going to stick around me, you should try not to be seen by my relatives. Aunt Petunia would probably give you to Dudley. Dudley would break you and so would Vernon," The child gained a sardonic smile, "I must be going mad if I'm talking to a wind-up mouse. Though given the people I'm stuck having as relatives, I wouldn't be surprised."

She sighed deeply and gently rubbed his head before moving to unpack sowing supplies from her bag. She opened it up and Liquorice took the time to take a better look around the room. The room looked like a bedroom/work room. He noted the uncomfortable looking cot in the corner shoved between two shelving units filled to the brim with fabrics. Liquorice mentally frowned as he noted the slight brownish red flecks that could only be dried blood. Liquorice looked towards the child and was startled when she rolled up her sleeves to have a better range of motion. Large hand shaped bruises that could only come from an adult with beefy hands were settled above her elbows, Liquorice was reminded of his maker's abused victims. Liquorice's decision to stay was solidified.

Calla finished the dress by Midnight and sighed deeply in relief. Thankfully, it was a Friday which meant tomorrow would be Saturday and she wouldn't have to go to school feeling exaughsted. Calla heard a soft squeak and looked at her desk where she'd placed the wind-up mouse. She smiled slightly as she got up and stretched. Letting out a yawn, Calla walked over to the mouse and gently ran her fingers over it's head. She spoke as she began putting away her left over materials, "Just got to clean this up and then get some rest," Calla glanced down at the mouse, "The best times to wander are after midnight. No one save for me is ever awake past then, so you'll be fine. Just if someone gets up, you should hide yourself away."

Calla finished putting everything away and walked over to her cot. She pulled back the thin blanket and laid down with a yawn. Closing her eyes, Calla's fingers curled around the locket around her neck. She ran her fingers along the lily etched into the locket's surface and began to hum. It was a lullaby that she dimly recalled from when she was very young though she couldn't quite figure out who was singing or the words.

A bit short compared to some first chapters, but I just wanted to write something.